Reviewer:
Big Boomer
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May 16, 2017
Subject:
Clever Frank Fay
Originally titled "A Fool's Advice" this is a good performance by one of the great comedians.
Once the highest paid performer in Vaudeville earning as much as $17,500 per week, Fay's abrasive personality tended to alienate most of those who worked with him. He was widely disliked in the entertainment field.
Many disliked his pro-Nazi, antisemitic views. It was said he was also an outspoken racial bigot.
But the public loved his carefully crafted off-hand style of humor. Fay is said to have pioneered stand up comedy.
Eventually his alcoholism and megalomania cause him to get fewer parts. Although he worked on stage and TV until his death, he did not enjoy the importance he had enjoyed in the 1920s.
Watching him in role of mild mannered and likeable Spencer Brown, we can see how his on-screen persona was very different from who he was in reality.